Washing-machine.



W. J. ZUILL. ,A WASHING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 12,1912.

Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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W in es; es

W. J. ZUILL.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION I'ILBD Nomvlz, 1912.

1,086,635. Patented Feb.1o,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WALTER J'. ZUHJL, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

WASHING-MACHINE.

- Specication of Letters Patent.-

Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

Application led November 12, 1912. Serial No. 730,898.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WALTER J. ZUILL, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the 'State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Washing-Machines, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

Thisinvention relates to certain improvements 1n washing machines andrefers more particularly to a reciprocatory dasher or dashers moving ina vat containing cleansing fluid and articles to be cleansed whereby thecleansing Huid is alternately forced and drawn through such articles bypressure and suction produced by the trapping of the air in the cupshaped dashers as the lattelI are raised and lowered into and out ofcontact with the clothes and cleansing Huid.

The main object, therefore, of my present invention is to enable thedashers to be reciprocated and intermittingly shifted rot-arily` bysuitable mechanismextending through the cover or top of the vat withoutshifting the axis of rotation of the dashers, except to a slight degreeforwardly and rearwardly. In other words, the specific object is toincrease the utility and general efciency of this class of machines bymaking the vat Adust proof, permitting the dashers to be operatedwithout shifting the l operating lever laterally around the vat andallowing the entire cover to be removed and the dashers withdrawn fromthe interior of the vat so as to leave the entire area of such vat openfor the insertion and withdrawal of clothes o rcleansing'fluid,

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the machine will bebrought out in the following description.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view of ahand operated washing machine embodying the various features of myinvention, the supporting legs and a portion of the handle of theoperating lever being broken away. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thedasher-operating mechanism omitting the dasher's. and vat. Fig. 3 is atop plan of the washing machine shown in Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsectional view of the mechanism for eii'ecting the rotary adjustment ofthe dashers and adjacent portion of the dasher-reciprocating lever, aportion of the vat with the cover thereon being shown in top plan. Y

The machine shown is techmally known as a hand washer. and comprises acircular vat *l* mounted upon a suitable supporting frame -2- andprovided'with a cover composed of semi-circular sections -3- closelyfitted upon the rim and covering the upper end o-r top of the vat forthe purpose of excluding dust and other foreign matter and also toprevent splashing or spattering of the water over the sides andretaining the heat of the cleansing fluid 'in the vat when heatedwateris used. The bottoni of the vat is provided with a normally closedoutlet valve -4- capable of being opened inwardly by upward pressure onthe bottom thereof for withdrawing the cleansing luid from thevat whendesired. Secured to and eX- tending upwardly from the rear side of thevat is an arm or bracket -5- carrying at its upper end a removable head'-6-, which is normally held inoperative position by a clamping screw-7-, but may be withdrawn upwardly from the end of the bracket or arm-5- when the clamping screw -`-7-- is loosened, said clamping screw alsoserving to hold the head against rotation on the bracket. it will beseen, on reference to Fig. l, that this bracket -5- and head 6- aredisposed wholly at the rearside of the vat so as to permit the cover 3to be easily and quickly placed in operative position or removed.

A hand lever 8- extends transversely of and some distance above thecover, preferably diametrically thereto and is pivoted at its rear endat 9- to the lower end of the head -G- so as to permit the free end ofthe lever to be rocked vertically by means of a handle -10- on its frontend. `In practice, the portion of the lever -8 eX- tending rearwardlyfrom the handle -10- is furcated or provided with opposite arms spaced asufficient distance apart to receive between them a dasher-supportingsleeve or yoke -11 directly over `the center of the cover or rathersubstantially co-axial with the vat, said lever being pivoted at -12- tothe lower end of the sleeve l1- for reciprocating the sleeve as thelever is rocked vertically in opposite directions.

A dasher rod or stem 413 has its upper end journaled in the sleeve orbearing -11- some distance above the top of the vat or cover 3- and itslower end is provided with opposite laterall extending arms -14-carrying inverte( cup-shape dashers 15- as shown more clearly in Fig. 1.The

dasher rod or stem w423-- is held against relative axial movement in thesleeve or bearing -11- by means of .collars -16- and 17- which aresecured to said rod or stem and engage respectivelyv the'lower and upperends of the sleeve orbearing, thereby limparting'vertical reciprocatorymovement to the dashers as the lever f5- is rocked vertically inopposite directions. The arms wleare rigidly securedto the lower end ofthe plunger rod or stem 13 within the vat and extend radially therefromfor receiving and supporting the dashers l5- which are also arrangedwithin the vat equal distant from the axis of the rod 13* and arerigidly secured to the outer ends of the arms -l4-- in substantially thesame horizontal plane.

The dashers --15- are preferably circular and of slightly less diameterthan the radius of the bottom of the vat so as to operate upon as largean area of the clothes as possible when reciprocated, the chambers inthe bottom of the dashers serving to trap the air therein when movedinto contact with the water or clothes, thereby producing air cushionsto aid in pressing the clothes and forcing'the cleansing fluidtherethrough during the downward stroke of the dashers and also servingas vacuum chambers for drawing the cleansing fluid upwardly through theclothes during the upstroke of the plunger, it being understood that theupper sides 'of the dasher are imperforated or closed to permitpneumatic pressure and suction upon the clothes as above referred to.

In order that the dashers and the operating mechanism therefor may movein vertical parallelism so as to keep both dashers in a horizontalplane, the upper end of the sleeve -llm is flexibly connected by a link-18- to the upper end of the head t3- saidA link being substantiallyparallel with the underlying portion of the lever '-8-.-.

It is now clear that the dasher -15- and its supportin plunger ---13-may be reciprocated by t e vertical movement of the lever -10- inopposite directions, the raising of the dasher and its operatingmechanism being vfacilitated by a retracting spring -20 having one endconnected to the` upper end of the head 6* and its opposite endconnected to the lower end of the sleeve -11-. l

Suitable means is provided for limiting the upward movement of thedasher and its operating mechanism and for this purpose, l have providedthe handle of the lever with a rearwardly projecting loop "2lin which ismounted an adjustable limiting sto -22- positioned so as to engage theadjacent front face of the sleeve l1- when the lever -8- is raisedsutliciently to withdraw the dashers from cont-act with the clothes,said stop also serving to prevent the arms -14- on the lower end of thekplunger -13- coming in Contact with the underside of the cover -3-although it is evident that by adjusting the screw Q2- the dashers andoperating mechanism therefor maybe allowed to raise a considerabledistance higher than the position shown in Fig. l.

Rotary adjustment-Suitable means is provided for shifting the dashers-'15- r0- tarily and intermittingly about the axis of the plunger rod-13-- so as to cause 'them to traverse the entire area of the bottom ofthe vat and for this purpose the rear end of the lever 4--8- isprovided'with a forwardly projecting pawl 2S- which is springpressedunder its own tension into engagement with the teeth of a ratchet wheel-Q4- on the plunger rod I3- just beneath the collar -16-- or lower endofy the sleeve -11- and, therefore, below the pivotal connection l2-between the lever and sleeve so that, as the free end of the lever isrocked downwardly to force the dashers into pressing engagement with theclothes, the tree end of the pawl and ratchet wheel will be drawn backfrom the ratchet teeth the distance of one 'or more teeth and, when thelever is raised to its normal position, the free end of the pawl willengage one of the succeeding teeth and thereby shift the plunger rod-^13-- and dashers rotarily a corresponding distance. ln other words, bypositioning the lever -8-- normally in an inclined plane, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, and bringing the tooth of the pawl and ratchet wheelbelow the horizontal plane of the pivotal connection between the leverand sleeve -11-, it is evident that, as the lever is rocked downwardlyfrom. its normal position, the ratchet wheel will be moved forwardly ortoward the handle of the lever relatively to the tooth of the pawl asthe lever approaches a horizontal position, this forward movement beingsuiicient to cause the tooth of the pawl to engage the next succeedingtooth of the ratchet wheel for shifting the dashers rotarily as thelever is restored to its normal inclined position.

As previously intimated, the head -6- is detachably mounted upon theupper end of the bracket -5- so as to permit the dashers and operatingmechanism therefor to be removed from the vat bodily when desired, theloop -21-, carrying the adjustable limiting sto the lever near t ejunction of the handle with the fork so as to permit it to bc thrownback to the position shown by dotted lines, thereby allowing the entirelever to be elevated to a vertical position, the rear end of the handleof said lever terminating a sufficient distance in front of. thesleeve-llto permit the lever to be rocked upwardly iio -22, beingpivoted to Losaeae over the top of the sleeve when desired to remove thedashers and operating mechanism for the vat.

Instead of removing the head p6-- from the bracket the set screw -7- maybe fastened and the lever rocked u wardly to nearly a vertical positionor su cient to withdraw the dashers from the top of the vat and allowthe same to be rocked laterally out of alinement with said vat, thusmaking the entire opening available for the insertion or removal ofclothes and cleansing fluid.

It has been previously stated that the dasher supporting rod 13- is heldagainst lateral movement but it is vto be understood that it is free toImove backwardly and forwardly a slight distance as necessitated by therocking of the lever to and `from a horizontal position and, in order toprovide for the vertical movement as well as the forward and rearwardmovement of the plunger, the center of the cover is provided with anopening through which the plunger rod extends.

In order that the pawl -23- may be properly adjusted relatively to theratchet wheel -24, its rear end is adjustably screwed to the lever bymeans of clamping bolts or screws -30 which are passed through elongatedslots 31- inthe adjacent end of the pawl as shown more clearly in Fig.l2.

What l claim is: l. ln a washing machine, a vat, a bracket secured toand rising from one side of the vat, a head on the bracket, a leverfulcrumed on the head and extending diametrically across the top of thevat, a non-rotatable sleeve pivoted to the lever some distance to therear of the axis of the sleeve, a plunger journaled vin the sleeve andextending into the vat, means for holding'the sleeve and plunger againstrelative endwise movement, a ratchet wheel on `the plunger some distancebelow the pivotal connection between the sleeve and lever, and a pawl onthe lever engaging theteeth of the ratchet wheel at a point somedistance in front of said pivotal connection.

2. ln a washing machine, a vat, a cover for the vat having a centraldiametrically elongated slot, a lever extending over the coverlengthwise of the slot and tulcrumed at one end to swing vertically,means. for holding the lever against lateral movement, ak sleevepivotally connected to the lever some distance to the rear of the axisof the between said ulcrum and pivotaly connection between the lever andsleeve.

3. In a washing machine, a vat, an arm secured to and rising from oneside of the vat, a head mounted on the arm', lmeans for securing thehead against rotation and vertical movement, a lever pivoted to the headto swing vertically and extending diametrically across the top of thevat, a vertically disposed sleeve pivoted to the lever directly over thecenter of the vat, means for holding the sleeve in parallelism with thehead, a spring connecting the sleeve and head and normally holding thelever above a horizontal position, a plunger rotatably mounted inthesleeve and extending into the interior of theV vat, arms secured tothe lower end of the plunger and extending radially therefrom, dashersmounted on said arms, means for holding the sleeve and plunger againstrelative endwise movement, a rocking member pivotally mounted on thelever in front of the sleeve and an adjustable limiting stop mounted onsaid rocking member for engagement with the sleeve to limitthe upwardrocking movement of the lever by the s ring. y

4. In a was ing machine, a vat, a bracket secured to and rising from oneside of the vat, a head secured to the bracket, a lever ulcrumed on thelbracket and extending diametrically across the top of thel vat, a sleevepivoted to the lever directly over the center of the vat, a plungerjournaled in the sleeve, means for holding the plunger and sleeveagainst relative endwise movement, dashers mounted on the lower end ofthe plunger, a spring connecting the sleeve and head for normallyelevating the lever above a horizontal plane, and means mounted on thelever and coacting withsaid sleeve to limit the upward swinging movementof said lever.

In witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand this 6th day\of November,1912.

WALTER J. ZUILL.

Witnesses: V

H. E. CHASE, fEvA E. GREEIEAF.

